Bombers release QB Santos

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This article was published 17/05/2010 (5734 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have trimmed the number of arms in their quarterback stable by releasing Ricky Santos.

The former Montreal Alouette — acquired last year for Canadian defensive ends Shawn Mayne and Riall Johnson – was released by the football team Monday afternoon. His departure leaves the club with four quarterbacks: Buck Pierce, Steven Jyles, Alex Brink and Adam DiMichele while Stefan LeFors remains under contract but is unlikely to report for training camp next month.

“We said all along we wanted to have four (quarterbacks),” said head coach Paul LaPolice. “I wish Ricky all the luck in the world, but we just felt this was a decision we had to make.”

Santos dressed for seven games for the Bombers last season, but did not throw a single pass. He did carry the ball primarily on third-down sneaks and scored one touchdown, but the team’s coaching staff felt that their other four QBs were simply ahead of Santos on the depth chart. As well, with training camp so short – the Bombers’ first preseason game is a week after practices begin – LaPolice wanted to make sure his pivots weren’t being denied reps because of numbers.

“I’ve watched as much film as we could find on all five quarterbacks and we just felt that from what we’ve seen we liked those other four guys,” said LaPolice. “We evaluated Ricky, but just feel the other four give us the best chance.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca